The Annual Resource Management Plan (ARMP) is a comprehensive reference document for administering the financial and fiscal resources required to conduct agricultural research within ARS. It is used as a planning and management information tool for research managers in ARS. The automated plan includes budgetary, CRIS, and personnel information for each management unit. Fiscal year (FY) is October 1 through September 30.

Acronyms: See Chapter 2 for a comprehensive list of commonly used acronyms.

The ARMS Manual is designed as a comprehensive reference document for administering the ARS Resource Management System (ARMS). It sets forth the Agency policies established in support of the ARMS and also describes the interactions and relationships of key participants and their respective functional roles and responsibilities. In this context, it is important to note the distinction between ARMS and ARMP. ARMS is the system, the ARMP is its principal (though not sole) component, i.e., the engine that drives the system. The discussion of ARMS outlines the various phases and activities encompassed by the annual budgeting cycle. In contrast, the discussion of the ARMP development, which constitutes the preponderant part of the ARMS manual, is a detailed explanation of each ARMP component and their respective purpose as well as roles, responsibilities, and interactions that are crucial to the accomplishment of the various requirements. The most current version of this manual is quite old and in hard copy format only. If a copy is needed, please contact the Area Budget and Fiscal office. There are plans in the near future to update this manual and make it available from the FMD webpage in PDF format.

The ARMP development has been automated on the ARS personal computer (PC) and now resides on the ARIS platform. Technical details and instructions for using the automated ARMP System to prepare each ARMP component are contained in the Automated ARMP System User's Manual. This manual also contains information on the Dynamic and Working Scenario ARMP Systems and definitions of many common terms used in the ARMP preparation.

It is essential that all personnel participating in the annual planning cycle have a working knowledge of the overall ARMS process. Not only should participants know their own respective role and responsibilities, but they should also be aware of how they impact the function of others and how others impact their own function. The content of the manual will provide all participants in the process, the tools, and knowledge necessary to accomplish this goal. The relatively complex framework of interactions requires an integrated and cooperative effort on the part of every participant in the system.